


Two of a Kind - Arc III "End of an Era"

by AnsemD



Series: Two of a Kind [3]
Category: Furry (Fandom), Zootopia
Genre: Action, Drama, Epic, F/F, F/M, Organized Crime, Plot Twists, Romance, Thriller, ambitious, long story, milde Smut, police work
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-11-02
Updated: 2020-11-02
Packaged: 2021-03-09 10:07:26
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,060
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27349393
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AnsemD/pseuds/AnsemD
Relationships: Judy Hopps/Nick Wilde, Patricia Wilde/Stella Conroy
Series: Two of a Kind [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1119090
Kudos: 3





	Two of a Kind - Arc III "End of an Era"

_“My feelings are too loud for words and too shy for the world.”_

_― Dejan Stojanovic_

  
  
  


### Yukiko

  
  


The boy looked lost when Yukiko spotted the little beaver the first time between the Tram station and the Farmer’s market. Just for a moment, he had stopped and looked at the colorful balloons that the zebra, who was dressed like a clown, was selling while his mother had moved on. Yukiko could imagine just too well what thoughts went through his mind right now. Where was she and what should he do now? The boy began to panic and hugged the action figure he was holding tight.

The daily Farmer’s market itself was already flooded with mammals of all sizes, even so the stand owners still tried to set up their goods as shiny and tasteful as possible. Only the shouting to attract more customers hadn’t begun yet but the fuss of the mammals was already annoyingly loud. 

“Mummy?” the boy shouted but his voice got lost in the dense crowd around him. There were hundreds, maybe even thousands of other mammals on the go this morning but none of them seemed to be interested in helping him. Carefully, he began to walk on with the Supermammal action figure in his paws which he pressed tightly to his chest. Yukiko saw the fear in the young mammal that she knew just too well by herself but despite those fears he moved on in his search for his mother.

“Mum?” The boy shouted again but there was still no response. The crowd moved on and so did he. Immediately, Yukiko lost sight of him, when he vanished behind the legs of some larger mammal. Something inside her demanded from her to follow the little guy and look out for him. The fact that he was out of sight made her nervous. Without even thinking about her own daily schedule, she began to follow him. 

It didn’t take long before Yukiko found him in front of one of the yellow ticket booths. Here he waited and thought for a moment how he should proceed. Once more, she kept her distance from him and watched that nothing bad would happen.

After walking several times around the ticket booth, the young beaver came to the conclusion to wait right there for his mother. A quick look around and Yukiko saw that there was no other beaver near them.

_Just wait a bit, maybe she’ll find him without my help._

But fate wasn’t done with the young mammal for today and returned in the form of a large group of tourists. The group of deer swarmed around the ticket booth and didn’t even recognize the smaller mammal. Yukiko saw immediately how the boy panicked and began to run to the only safe place he could see and reach but luck wasn’t on his site. He stumbled over his own short feet dropping his action figure in the process. He didn't stop until he was finally in safety. Trembling, he sat underneath the metal bench and seemed just to wish for this episode of his young life to be over. Without any other mammal recognizing, he began to cry in silence. That was the moment when the urge to help in Yukiko drowned out every other fear. She had to help him.

“Mum...where are you?” The boy cried but changed into loud sobbing when he recognized that someone was squatting in front of him. 

“Hey there, little one. Can I help you?” A soft voice asked him in a gentle tone, that made the boy look up. In front of him was not his mother but a female wolf with almost golden fur and brown eyes that shone warm and friendly. Peter stopped immediately with his sobbing and began to inspect her from head to toe. 

She wore a dark blue and pleated skirt that went down to her ankles, while a white and high buttoned blouse was her other choice. Her smile was shy but gentle.

“Who...who are you?” The boy asked carefully.

“My name is Yukiko and I think this one here, wants to return to his friend.” She said and handed him his lost Supermammal action figure. With delight in his eyes, he took back what was originally his and gave it a tight hug. Looking back to Yukiko, the boy also recognized the police badge hanging on a metal chain around her neck and swung in front of her chest. With wide eyes and an open mouth, he gaped at her.

“Are you a police officer, like Judy Hopps?”

“Oh! That's? No, no, that’s not…,” Yukiko replied flustered about the prediction of the boy and continued to explain, "I'm sorry, but I'm not a police officer or anything exciting like that. I'm just a crime scene investigator."

The young beaver tilted his head and tried to make sense of the word combination crime, scene, and investigator but his three-year-old mind simply couldn't and so he continued to look at her with a questioning gaze.

"You see...I'm the one who makes photos of the places where a crime took place, take paw prints, fur and sometimes even blood samples. Then I take all those things to the police head quarter and search for clues to help the officers to find the culprit." Yukiko explained and ended with a smile.

"So... You're a police scientist?"

Yukiko thought for a moment about his idea and smiled finally at him in an acknowledging way.

"I...I never saw it like this but, yes, you could say that. Now let me ask you a question. What's your name, little beaver? And what are you doing here so alone?" Yukiko asked and began to look for clues that gave away the boys’ identity but his jeans and green shirt told her nothing of interest.

"Peter is my name. Peter McLevee. And...and...and...I lost my mum." Just as the words left his muzzle, tears began anew to stream down his cheeks.

"Okay, Peter. Hey, there’s no need to cry. I'm maybe not a police officer but I think together we can find your mother. What do you say?" Yukiko explained and smiled soothingly at the small beaver, offering him her outstretched paw. Peter accepted this opportunity with visible delight and began with the action figure in his arms to crawl out of his hideout.

Peter was surprised with which ease the slender but tall wolf scooped him up from the ground and let him sit on her right arm. 

Up here, on eye level with Yukiko, where he could see the faces of all the other mammals around him, nothing seemed so frightening anymore. Some of the deer that almost stomped on him before even smiled back at him. While Yukiko already looked around to find Peter’s mother, the young beaver recognized the black case in her left paw and a box of donuts.

“Let’s see...where could she be?” Yukiko talked to herself and turned slowly around to scan the area for other beavers.

“Oh? Miss Yukiko, what is this?”

“What? Oh, this?” Yukiko asked back but realized what he meant and raised her left paw to his eye level. In her paw she held a small black case, “That’s a box of donuts and a violin.”

“Woah really? A violin? Mum says that those things are hard to play...are you good at it?”

“I...I don’t know. I practiced it for a long time now but I’m not sure if other mammals would like to listen to my play. I’m not even sure if I like this instrument myself.” Yukiko said and smiled shyly back at Peter.

“I would listen to it and I bet it sounds great,” Peter exclaimed.

“Really? Well, thank you but…,” Yukiko began to speak but stopped suddenly when the loud voice of another mammal startled her. 

“What in the name of the three Goddesses do you think you’re doing there with my son, you damn predator? Wasn’t it enough that one of you hurt my husband during those riots last year? Mmh? Does one of you also want my son now?” The elderly beaver asked angered. 

Yukiko turned around to the commanding voice and looked down into the black eyes of a female beaver, who was obviously Mrs. McLevee. The small female mammal had her arms on her hips and there was even a hint of tears in her eyes.

"I...I...I….," Yukiko tried to reply but was paralyzed by the sudden accusation. Suddenly she was like the three-year-old child which she held on her arm and whom the adults were scolding for her behavior. Memories came back to the surface of her mind that she hated. Desperately she tried to bury them in the back of her mind. Memories of her mother that belonged only to her and no one else. Memories that would've made her cry and her grandmother always said that tears are nothing for the public.

It took her a moment to banish them back to the deepest part of her consciousness. 

_Please... not the memories of Mum...not now and not here. Why were adults always so fast with their opinions on other mammals?_

"I know it! You tried to kidnap my little, Peter! Just admit it you damn predator! Who knows what you would've done to him if I wouldn't have found you!" 

"N-n-no... it's not like that." Yukiko tried to defend herself and felt how tears began to gather in her eyes as well.

Around them, mammals started to recognize their argument and began to stop and stare. Yukiko could feel the eyes on her and she wished herself to be anywhere else in this world but here.

"Liar!" Mrs. McLevee screamed at her and Yukiko recognized that the crowd around them began to whisper and talk.

_Tell her! Come on, Yukiko, just tell her that you wanted to help little Peter and nothing else!_

"Explain yourself, predator!"

_Tell her!_

“I...I...I didn’t…” Yukiko began but whenever she tried to continue, the fear of saying something wrong held her back. In the end, Yukiko gave small Peter down to her mother, who immediately snatched his paw and clutched him tight to her chest. Bowing her head in shame as if she were the culprit behind his disappearance, Yukiko began to talk.

“I...I’m sorry. I just wanted to h-help, M-Mrs. McLevee.” Yukiko replied but didn’t raise her head. 

“Help! Pah! I would never ask for help from a predator like you!” Mrs. McLevee said. Yukiko hoped that the mother would stop but with her yelling and accusations but unfortunately that wasn’t the case. Insult after insult came from the raging beaver in front of her. The view the two females gave the surrounding audience must be a strange one. A small beaver who lectured a wolf trice her size and who also bowed her head in shame. Yukiko knew that she didn't deserve this treatment but she never liked conflicts and she hated to hurt others, no matter if it meant the usage of force or the one of harsh words. For her in this situation, even a ‘no’ or ‘stop it’, was too much for the female wolf. Biting her own lip, she did what she always did and waited for it to be over.

“...and if you should ever do something to my little Peter, then let the goddesses be good and have mercy for you because I will not!”

The enraged beaver was waiting for a reply but there was none. The behavior of the wolf angered Mrs. McLevee even more as she already was, when she prepared for another round of insults. She just opened her muzzle when she was fiercely interrupted.

“It is enough, lady.” The voice that spoke was deep and marked by a heavy russian accent. All eyes turned immediately to the massive stag who stopped behind Yukiko. On his head were two heavy antlers which he had filled with metal rings, piercings and even some metal bells which rang whenever he was walking. He towered over every other mammal but that didn't stop Mrs. McLevee's fighting spirit at all.

Briefly unsettled with the new situation, Mrs. McLevee needed not more than two heartbeats to focus on the new enemy.

"And what do you want?"

"She apologized to you and even helped your boy to find you. Or wasn't it like this? Come on. Tell her, boy." The stag said and seemed to intimidate little Peter so much that the only thing he could do was nodding in agreement.

Peter's mother stared with wide eyes at her own son, almost as if he had stabbed her in the back with a simple nod. She and everyone standing around knew what she had to do. Still, she didn't apologize and the stag continued to lecture her.

"Don't you think you humiliated her enough?" 

Mrs. McLevee gave the stag a last evil look before she turned to her son. She scooped him from the ground and took him into his arms.

"Come, Peter. We go. Some prey mammals don't seem to know on which side they should stand." Mrs. McLevee said to her son who didn't seem interested in anything she had to say. His eyes were solely focused on the golden wolf who had helped him. For the first time, since the scolding had begun, Yukiko raised her head and smiled a last time at Peter, who looked over the shoulder of his mother. He waved with a sad gaze the golden wolf girl goodbye until both mother and son disappeared in the masses of mammals of the still early fruit market.

"And you mammals? Do you have nothing else to do?" The stag yelled at the surrounding crowd.

Awkward talk and apologizes came from every direction of the surrounding mammals, explaining why they were around and still listening. When the large part of the audience had moved on, the stag began to search for something in his black and worn out ostrich leather jacket.

"Are you okay, Yuki?" The stag asked and fished a pack of cigarettes from the inner pockets of his jacket together with a steel lighter. 

"Yes...and thank you Mr. Dyatlov." Yukiko replied. Her head again directed towards the ground.

"черт, kid! How many times do I have to tell you that you should call me by my first name? I'm feeling older than my forty-one years when you're doing this." Mr. Dyatlov said and exhaled a grey cloud of smoke.

"Y-yes…Artjom. I'm sorry." Yukiko replied.

"And stop apologizing for everything. You did nothing wrong." Artjom said and looked to the golden wolf with the black violin casket in her paws.

"Y-yes...I'm sor…," Yukiko began to reply like she always did but recognized her mistake and went silent.

Artjom shook slowly his smiling muzzle. His movement made the bells and metal rings in his antlers jingle. The first time Yukiko had seen Artjom and his antlers she found it weird but somehow charming. Especially children liked to see and hear the jingling of the bells.

"You can't help yourself? Do you?"

"N-no," Yukiko answered and had to bite her lip to not add another apology. To distract herself, she looked up to the electronic timetable and saw that the next tram still needed five more minutes.

"Why didn't you fight back? She was wrong and you just let her tear you apart? For helping her? That's bullshit." Artjom said angered but his face turned quickly to one that showed honest worries.

"I...I don't know. I guess I don't want to end up in a fight." Yukiko replied and smiled meekly.

"You were already in a fight but you were already on the ground and she was still kicking you...that isn't fair!" Artjom yelled and a startled goat couple stepped to the side and away from him. She knew that his anger was directed at the world and not herself.

"I-I'm sorry." Yukiko replied and bowed her head.

"Don't you apologize again!" Artjom began but exhaled deeply after he looked for a while into Yukiko's eyes, "Just...just promise me that you will defend yourself the next time."

"I-I promise to try," Yukiko replied.

Artjom sighed deeply before he spoke, "I guess that's the best answer I can get from you. Forget it."

Inspecting the casket in Yukiko's paws, Artjom asked, "Do you finally found a band to join?"

"Well...it’s not a band. But my grandma knows a philharmonic group where I can take part in an audition this afternoon. Maybe they need someone to play the violin." Yukiko explained and continued to look down on her feet, just to speak up again and ask the stag a question, "And what is with you, Artjom? Did you find a band who needs a drummer?"

Artjom grunted and stepped on his finished cigarette. He exhaled the last cloud of grey smoke before he answered Yukiko, "Niet. Most bands say I'm too ‘old’ for them to fit in. And it gets worse when they hear that I work for the ZPD. Most of them don't even want to hear that I'm the master of the armory and not a police officer. As if I would confiscate their drugs or alcohol or something like that."

Another tram was approaching their stop and Yukiko raised her head to check if it was one of those which stopped at the precinct one. It was.

"Whatever," Artjom said and stepped together with Yukiko in the arriving tram. They immediately found two benches that faced each other and sat down on opposite sites. The tram was full of other mammals and the screens, which were placed all around the vehicle and were there to give the mammals of Zootopia their daily dose of advertisement, announced a new band that will soon release their first album. They called themselves The Troublemakers and Yukiko made herself an internal note to take a look at this new album as soon as it will be available. The ad looked already very promising to her.

"And you? Didn't you say that you were learning another instrument? I think it was bass, right?" Artjom asked and looked at the golden wolf, who appeared to be with her crease-free clothes, her violin basket placed on her lap, and her elegant posture almost like a perfectly carved statue of a little Miss perfect. She was the complete contrast to the stag with his black leather jacket, an old t-shirt, which was almost too worn out to read what was standing on it, and jeans that had already seen better days.

"Oh...that. I-I just play it in my free time and also not for very long. Also... It's not that I'm very good at it." Yukiko explained and began to smile shyly. For just a moment she thought about the sky-blue bass and the amplifier she had bought over a year ago when she moved into her own apartment. It was a present from herself to herself and a promise that she would make from that moment onward her own decisions. She remembered the satisfying humming sound that the instrument created and which relaxed her deeply. 

"Is that the point?" Artjom asked and ripped her out of her daydream.

"What? I-I was thinking about... I'm sorry, what did you say?" Yukiko asked and smiled apologetically. Artjom immediately recognized her apology and grunted disapproving but went on.

"What I mean is the point of playing music is not how good you are but how much joy it brings you and the mammals listening. When you come home after a long day in the lab of the precinct one and you want to play some music, which instrument do you take into your paw?" Artjom asked. His gaze completely focused on the young wolf lady in front of him, who tried to avoid his gaze and a clear answer at all cost.

"Th-That's not so easy to answer! I-I mean...the violin was a gift from my grandmother...and...and the bass was...well...my decision." Yukiko tried to defend a position no one but her unconscious mind was attacking.

"So, which one then?" 

"Well…," Yukiko began and stopped immediately but just did so because she knew what she wanted to say. Whispering she replied, "...t-the bass."

Satisfied with her answer, Artjom leaned back into his seat. The sudden movement made the rings and bells in his antlers jingle and that on the other hand put a smile on Yukiko's face. 

"Now we're talking...maybe you should focus more on things you like to do and not so much on what your sense of duty tells you to do. What do you think?" Artjom asked while the tram speaker announced the next stop which was Savannah Plaza.

"M-maybe you're right," Yukiko replied shyly and watched how the sun peeked over the large building of the Savannah plaza. They had still some minutes left until they reached their workplace and Yukiko felt that it was the right time to ask the question she had already asked at least a thousand times to a thousand different mammals.

“Artjom?”

“Yes?”

“Y-you met a lot of mammals in your life, right?”

“I would say so, yes. Why do you ask?” Artjom replied and scratched his chin before he focused back on the young wolf in front of him.

“Have you ever met a black wolf? I mean… of course, you have. But I mean a certain wolf. He should be by now around my age, probably slightly taller than I am and with two different colored eyes. One is blue and the other one is green. Have...have you seen anyone like this?” Yukiko asked the question that she had asked at least a thousand times before but had always received the same disappointing response. 

And this time as well should be no different. The disappointment felt so familiar by now.

“No...I’m sorry, Yukiko. I’ve never seen someone like this. Who is he?” Artjom returned the question.

“Ohh...he is...well. I would say he’s an old friend of mine that I want to see once again.”

“Hhmm,“ Artjom grunted in response. Yukiko could feel that the stag was not happy with this reply, probably because something didn’t add up. He continued to ask, “And what is his name?”

“I...I don’t know his name.” Yukiko replied and turned her face embarrassed towards the windows, pretending to watch the town and its mammals because she knew that the questions would start.

“How can you not know his name? Sounds strange to me.” Artjom continued to ask and raised an eyebrow.

A group of young mammals who were on their way to school passed their seats and Yukiko waited until they had passed to give her answer.

“It’s because...he and I know each other just for one day and we never asked each other what our names were.”

“Now that sounds like a very intense date.” Artjom replied grinning and watched how the inner ears of Yukiko turned from a rose-like color to a burning red, “I’m sorry...I forgot how easily you can be flustered.”

“It’s...it’s fine I guess.” Yukiko replied and both sat there in silence for at least a minute before Yukiko began to speak up again, “It was no real date. We were only seven at the time but that day with him...it was without a doubt the best day in my whole childhood.”

Another minute of silence passed but this time it was Artjom who carefully inspected the young wolf. In some distance, precinct one appeared behind a wall of buildings. The bells and rings in his antlers jingled as he stood up. With a smile on his face, he offered Yukiko his hoof to help her up, which she took with delight. 

“I don’t know him but if I ever see him, I’ll keep an eye out for him. How does that sound?” Artjom asked and accepted Yukiko’s enthusiastic nod as a reply, while their tram passed by another wave of cars in different sizes. 

"It will be a wonderful day. Don't you think?" Yukiko asked with a smile on her muzzle as the two of them went to the entrance of the Tram and waited for the stop. Artjom grunted in approval as they stepped out into the fresh morning air.

_Today will be a great day. I can feel it...I just hadn't the best start._

"By the way...for whom are the donuts? I can't imagine that you eat a whole box by yourself." Artjom asked while he nodded to a passing hippo police officer who had just ended his shift and was on his way home.

"Oh! I'm sorry, I almost forgot...do you want one?" Yukiko replied and opened the box for Artjom to take a look. 

"Don't mind if I do," Artjom said smiling and chose a chocolate glazed donut with white sprinkles on top, "...but again, for whom is the rest?"

"Those are for Mr. Clawhauser. He helped me last week to order a lot of files that I dropped after we bumped into each other in the hallway." Yukiko said and closed the box.

"Oh, that's nice...wait. You bumped into each other?"

"Yes."

"So you're both to blame, right?"

"T-technically...yes."

"Then why are you the one who bought him some donuts?"

"W-well...he could've left me alone with the files but he stayed and helped me bring them back in order...I thought that was nice and I just wanted to thank him." Yukiko replied. She entered while Artjom held the door open for her. 

"Thank you." She said smiling.

"No problem...and there he is the luckiest cheetah in the ZPD...at least this morning," Artjom announced loud enough so that Clawhauser turned his attention from scrolling through his phone towards the stag. A big smile spread over Clawhausers muzzle when he greeted the two.

"Ohhh! And there they are! The most gorgeous crime scene investigator and the toughest looking staff member of the whole precinct one. How are you two doing today?" Clawhauser asked and leaned on the counter to have a better look at the two. His mood as bright as always and this on a Monday.

"I'm fine and I guess little Miss Amagi over here is also more or less okay. Anyway…," Artjom began and knocked with his hooves on the counter, "I have to go or Karl from the nightshift leaves again a mess of paperwork, which I have to clean up over the day...See you two later."

The stag grinned at the two and took a first large bite from his donut.

"Mmh, delicious!" Artjom exclaimed while Yukiko didn't know if he looked more like someone who just left a prison cell or someone who was invited for interrogation about a bar fight. Yukiko and Clawhauser looked after the stag until he vanished from sight and deeper into the large building.

"He's probably the mammal who fits the least into the ZPD…," Clawhauser said.

"That's true but I like him just how he is," Yukiko replied smiling.

"...Aaand we never had a better master of the armory. Especially for a city as peaceful as Zootopia. The guy before him couldn't tell the difference between a baton and a dart gun." Clawhauser chattered on and didn't even recognize that Yukiko looked with bright eyes and anticipation at the cheetah.

"Mr. Clawhauser?" Yukiko said and managed to focus the cheetah’s attention back at her.

"Oh please sweetheart, call me Ben, Benji, or at least Benjamin. Okay?" Clawhauser said and tried to smile encouragingly at the young wolf.

"Okay…Benjamin." Yukiko replied and placed the box of donuts in front of Clawhauser, "I-I wanted to thank you for your help last week. You know...when we bumped into each other...you helped me organize my files. That's why those donuts are for you." 

Yukiko opened the box for the astonished cheetah and stepped back. With a smile from ear to ear he looked at the donuts in all their glory and sweetness.

"OH! MY! GOODNESS! Those are the good ones from Donnie's Donut Dom. You drove this morning to Tundra town just to get those for me?" Benjamin exclaimed ecstatically. To see that the cheetah enjoyed his little gift so genuine gave Yukiko a little bit more confidence. 

Come ask him! He knows a lot of mammals, maybe he saw him.

"Oh, that...that was nothing. I'm an early bird, you know?" Yukiko replied and took a nervous glance around to check if they were alone, while Benjamin already took the first bite from one of the donuts.

"I-I'm sorry Mr. Clawhauser...I-I-I mean Benjamin of course but can I ask you a question?"

"Darling, you can ask me anything you want. So, how can I help you? Shoot." Benjamin replied and continued with the second donut.

"You're seeing a lot of different mammals here at the counter of the ZPD, is that right?" 

"Oh, a lot of mammals. Why are you asking? Are you looking for someone?" Benjamin asked, looking at the nervous Yukiko in front of him.

After a deep breath, Yukiko asked the same question she had already asked Artjom earlier this morning. She had also asked a lot of other mammals this question but she had never received a satisfying answer.

"Have you seen a black wolf with two different colored eyes? One blue and one green? He should be around my age and height...but he's probably a little bit taller. D-do you remember anyone like that?" 

Benjamin's jaw stopped moving for a moment while his gaze turned to the ceiling, "Uhh...let me think. Wolf… a wolf...a black wolf…. Also with two different eye colors?"

The longer Clawhauser thought about the question, the faster Yukiko's heart began to beat in her chest. So many years of disappointment and search but she knew that she wouldn't give up. One day she would find him. 

"I'm sorry, darling. But I don't know anyone who fits your description. Maybe you can give me a name and I could...oh no! Please Yukiko, don't look so sad. Maybe a name could help me?"

Her heart sunk back and like all the times before she felt so stupid for asking in the first place. Yukiko cursed herself for being so disappointed in his answer. In the end, she knew what would probably happen but she asked anyway. She needed to see him again.

A forced smile appeared on her muzzle, "I-I'm sorry, Benjamin but I'm afraid that I don't know his name. Anyway, I'm thankful for your help."

"Oh don't mention it and should I ever walk across that wolf. I'll immediately call you, hun. Promised." Clawhauser replied. 

A quick look at her watch and Yukiko knew she had to go. She bowed her head just how she had learned it from her grandmother and walked with the violin casket in her paws towards the laboratories. 

_You tried your best. Maybe next time you'll receive a positive answer. Yes...Maybe…._

"WAIT!" Benjamin shouted through the whole hall, running after Yukiko who had her gaze already turned to the ground.

Desperately grasping for air, Benjamin Clawhauser stopped after a short but intense sprint right in front of her.

"Is everything okay, Benjamin?" Yukiko said worriedly.

"Y-yeah...I...I just….oh geez….I just need a second...or two. Oh mammal, I remembered something!" Clawhauser pressed through his lips. For a moment, Yukiko was sure he would collapse in front of her and she already tried to remember everything about CPR that she knew.

"O-okay?" 

"I just...puh...I just remembered that I saw him."

"Who?"

"Your wolf."

"My wolf?" Yukiko asked in disbelief and her heart began immediately to race.

"Yeah, the one you've described to me. I think I saw him."

"What?....Where? When?" Her mind began to overflow with questions and for a second time today, her heart began to race in pure excitement.

"Woah, woah, woah. Take it easy, darling. Just a second and I'll tell you everything I know." Clawhauser replied, slowly returning to a normal breathing rhythm.

"Please do," Yukiko replied and folded her paws with maybe a little bit too much pressure.

"Okay," Clawhauser replied and inhaled deeply, "What I know is that I saw him one night together with Judy and Nick. I guess it was during one of their night shifts. They were six mammals in total and they seemed to meet for a coffee break in a diner near Tundra town. And they had a lot of fun."

"Okay...six mammals?"

"Yes," Clawhauser replied and began to count the mammals he saw with his fingers, "Let me see...there were of course Nick and Judy. A beaver who was practically glued to his laptop. An energetic red vixen, who looked a lot like Nick. A white vixen who was close to the red one and not to forget – your wolf."

"D-does he was okay?"

"Well, why don't you take a look and decide for yourself? The scene they provided was so hilarious that I had to take a picture." Clawhauser said grinning and began swiping through his phone until he found what he was looking for. Excited like never before, the normally shy wolf snatched the device out of Clawhauser's paws and stared at the screen. Should she really trust her eyes or was that just an illusion that her mind had created after all?

_That's him. I...I really found him. After all those years._

Tears of joy began to roll down Yukiko's face, as she inspected the picture closer. Six mammals shared a table in a diner. On the left sat Nicholas Wilde and Judy Hopps, the heroes of the city. But behind Judy sat a beaver looking amused up from his laptop, while Judy was just shaking her head and drinking her coffee. Her partner, however, was involved in a heated conversation with the other two vixens. The red one of the two looked dazzled at three coffee cups while the white vixen was angry at Nick Wilde. The coffee cups, which seemed to be the stumbling block of the interaction, stood upside down in front of Nick Wilde. The fox seemed to play a version of the shell game with the two but with coffee cups instead of normal shells. He grinned slyly at them when he raised the one cup to which the two were pointing and revealed that there was nothing underneath. The red vixen was facepalming herself, while the white one was reaching over the table to grasp for Nick with her remaining paw.

The scene was just as Clawhauser said entertaining but Yukiko couldn't stop staring at the black wolf who tried desperately to hold back the white vixen from reaching Nick. Yukiko saw it immediately, it was the same carrying attitude and the same worries in his blue and green eye. It was him, there was no doubt about it but unfortunately, she couldn't see his name on his uniform.

"Oh, no please don't cry. It's not him, am I right? Ahh, I'm so sorry, my dear. I was so sure that it was him..." Clawhauser tried to comfort Yukiko but it took him by surprise to see her smile when she handed him his phone back.

“N-no. Everything is fine. He’s...that’s him. You can’t even imagine how much you’ve helped me.” Yukiko replied and bowed deeply in front of Clawhauser. Embarrassed by the gesture, the cheetah began to lift the wolf up by her shoulders.

“Then why do you cry, my dear?" 

"I'm sorry. I'm just so excited to finally have a clue where I could find him. Thank You, Benjamin. You have no idea how much that means to me." Yukiko said and bowed again. Smiling, she said, "I wish you a wonderful day...and thank you."

"You too," Clawhauser replied and watched how the wolf turned towards the laboratory. Her feet seemed much lighter now when she walked away. As if a heavyweight was lifted from her shoulders.

_I knew it...this will be a wonderful day after all._


End file.
